A word of advice to senior citizens: be very careful which family members you trust with your finances. In fact, researchers at Virginia Tech suggest you might be better off finding someone outside your circle of family and friends to help you.
Karen A. Roberto, director of the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech, found that of the 1,128 news articles on elder abuse published from November 2010 through January 2011, 31 percent dealt with abuse of a financial nature.
Family, friends, neighbors
Although slightly more than one-quarter of these events were identified as singular random acts incurring relatively minor financial losses, a high level of brutality and disregard for human life characterized these crimes, she found.
Even more disturbing is the revelation that family, friends, and neighbors were identified as perpetrators in 45 percent of these cases and the overall dollar losses at the hands of family and friends were higher than from any other category of perpetrators.
“Our findings support what service providers have long suspected, older adults are particularly vulnerable to financial abuse during the holidays,” said Roberto. “This might be due to the increase in the frequency of visitors in and out of their homes, money flowing more freely, and distractions that take them out of their normal routines.”
The research study, which also analyzed newsfeeds from April through June of 2010, determined that older Americans are losing $2.9 billion annually to elder financial abuse, a 12 percent increase from the $2.6 billion estimated in 2008. “A trend,” said Roberto, “that perhaps is a reflection of the state of the economy.”
Women more likely to be victims
Elderly women, especially those between the ages of 80 and 89, were found to be nearly twice as likely to fall victim to financial abuse as men. They often lived alone and frequently required some level of assistance with either health care or home maintenance.
Conversely, nearly 60 percent of perpetrators were found to be younger males between the ages of 30 and 59. In almost all cases reported through the newsfeeds studied, financial abuse was achieved through deceit, threats and emotional manipulation of the elder.
Roberto offers 10 tips of preventing financial abuse:
- Stay active and engage with others; isolation increases both vulnerability and opportunity for victimization.
- Monitor your financial affairs. Even if assistance is needed, you or a trusted friend or family member should double check bank and credit card statements and other financial transactions. It is advisable to use direct deposit when possible and to sign your own checks if able.
- Stay organized. Know where your financial documents are (including wills, trusts, and power of attorney). Keep them safe and review annually; update as circumstances change.
- Discuss benefits of appointing a Power of Attorney with your attorney so that your directives can be adhered to even if you become incapable of stating them yourself.
- Be cautions in making financial decisions. Do not allow anyone to pressure you into making a hasty decision. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Never give out bank account, social security or credit account numbers to solicitors.
- Protect your passwords. Do not share banking, computer or ATM passwords with others, and notify company or bank if you notice any questionable charges or transactions.
- Beware of telephone solicitations. It is not rude to hang up when an unknown caller tries to talk you into doing something you don’t want to do or buying something you don’t want. Hang up! Then call the National Do Not Call Registry at 1-888-382-1222 to reduce the number of solicitation calls you receive.
- Be careful of individuals who may take advantage of you. Elder financial abuse can be committed by anyone, including caregivers or family members. Be wary if anyone pressures you to do something with your money or possessions that you are not sure you want to do (e.g. adding their name to your bank accounts or property titles). Be especially careful of someone who tries to keep you isolated from others, and call a trusted family member or the police.
- Recognize potential financial abusers. Most abusers are very persuasive in convincing the elder of their trustworthiness. Again, never make a monetary decision without talking it over with someone you are sure has your best interests at heart.
- Know what to do if you believe you are a victim of financial abuse. Put aside your fear or embarrassment and discuss your concerns with someone you trust, be it another family member, clergyman, bank manager, or attorney.
Joseph Stager Jr. (Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:26:56 +0000): I disagree with this entirely! We had Oswego County Department of Social Services take my newly widowed mother`s SSI Survivors Benefits check away from her, and Oswego SSA let them abuse how they handled her money even though I sent an SSA investigator up there four times! They put us into financial ruin! It took me over tow years to get a Federal Judge to hear our case and she found, with 166 pages of my documentation, that they were" micromanaging her finances" and not paying on many of the monthly household bills.
They were "more interested in her money" the judge ruled. The judge also said they disregarded my mother`s health, which was Chronic and she was noted as a fragile" patient. My poor 83 year old mother got to see her check for only four months before she died on Aspiration Pneumonia in September 2010. They also put so much stress on her that her blood pressure was out of control and her breathing became much worse. I plan on suing them for Elder Abuse/Financial Exploitation- exactly the same things they declared against me and opened two false Adult Protection Services cases against me.
Social Services needs to be audited and re-evaluated because of the number of elderly and disabled they`ve taken advantage of! Family members hell! Go after these Federally funded State Programs first! I cared for my mother right up to the point where she needed to be in the ICU, all of this due to the severe emotional abuse that Dept. Social Services put her through! Read about in in the Post Standard for the Syracuse, New York area- Oswego County please!
Stephanie Stout (Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:50:24 +0000): If you posted a link, that would help.
DJ Craig (Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:57:02 +0000): Have you been pressured into buying an unsuitable annuity you did not completely understand? Then you have been a victim of financial abuse. Unfortunately this institutionalized form of abuse is currently LEGAL.
Mimi Kroncke (Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:40:51 +0000): Joseph: Good for you! Too many let situations such as yours go by the wayside and this allows for continued abuse. Thanks for the link. It appears that besides Medicare/Aid, supplemental insurance, we also need to have a trusted attorney at our beck and call, more expenditure. Caution, a cynical-skeptical attitude, suspicion - have to hone those traits to survive. Keep up this good work!
Phyllis Denison (Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:35:46 +0000): This is all very true. Unfortunately, many elderly have no family, or family is in other states. Family does not always have the best interests of the person either.
We list and sell mobile homes mostly in 55+ parks in Tucson, AZ. We have witnessed too many times when an elderly person was being manipulated into going into Assisted Living or to return "home" when they didn't want to and when they didn't really need to.
Some other very important points:
If home health, or in home assistance is wanted and needed, thoroughly vet the Agency before you enter into a contract. I worked in Home Health and you must investigate their business record, their status with Medicare/Medicaid, and determine if their caregivers have had back ground checks and if they are continually monitored in that regard as well as whether they are properly trained, licensed or certified and precisely what their duties are. NEVER give a caregiver money or checks. NEVER allow the caregiver to have a "friend" visit them while they are in your home.
Unfortunately elderly experiencing any type of abuse from either a caregiver or family member will not report it due to fear.
Abusers know how to intimidate them and control them. It is very hard to know who to trust, especially for someone who has no family.
What is needed is for a more aggressive marketing campaign by elder support groups, Area Agencies on Aging, and even the government to make information more widely available to elderly persons as to what kind of services exist. A better way of policing these entities is also needed but as long as our health care and elder care is in the hands of the bean counters in the insurance industry, that will no doubt not happen.
Families need to also be educated and informed as to the needs of their elderly relatives and to the fact that even though mom or dad seem to be capable of handling their own affairs, some vigilance and oversight is necessary.
Finally, if anyone witnesses any form of abuse of an elderly person, for goodness sakes, get involved and report it. Make someone in authority - the police or the local Elder Abuse Agency - aware and push the issue until it is addressed and the abuser brought to justice.
In the 55+ parks, there are many eyes and ears and usually a neighbor will be involved and will help to see to it that this doesn't happen.